Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 112 Cause and Effect
"Master, what is this black flag?" Lin Zixiang couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"Brother Zixiang, have you forgotten? I bought this from a stall when we were at Xianxia Market."

"I remember, but, this...what's going on?" George Lam was shocked.

"I don't know either, but later I found out that this magic weapon can suck the flesh and blood of prey to enhance the power of forbidden attacks, so I gave it a try." Song Xian replied ambiguously, and one after another sucked the flesh and blood of several seriously injured silver-armored ants with the black flag.

Zhong Wenyuan looked at the black banner, his eyes flickering slightly, without saying a word.

Apu just watched coldly.

Lin Zixiang didn't ask any more questions and started to explain, "Master, I don't know what happened to those silver-armored ants. I kept within a hundred feet of them, but for some reason, they all turned back while chasing me. I couldn't stop them, so I had to follow them."

These silver-armored ants turned back halfway, which not only almost aborted the entire plan, but also nearly cost Zhong Wenyuan his life. Fortunately, no irreversible consequences were caused. Even so, he still felt very ashamed.

Previously, a total of four groups of people went to the cave to attract away the silver-armored ants, and they all completed the task successfully. Only he had an accident, which made him very embarrassed. Therefore, as soon as he got rid of those silver-armored ants, he hurriedly explained.

"Perhaps these elite guard silver-armored ants are more dependent on the queen ant, so they turned back after chasing for a distance." Song Xian put away the black banner.

He did not ask for too many details. Whether this happened due to Alan Lam's own negligence or the characteristics of the elite guard silver-armored ants, it was meaningless to find out the reason.

No plan can be guaranteed to go smoothly 100%, and George Lam has done his best. If he is blamed for this, it will only create resentment in him.

"Fellow Daoist Zhong, why did you stay in the nest for so long? What happened?" Apu asked at this time, looking straight at Zhong Wenyuan.

Song Xian and Lin Zixiang also looked at him, obviously they were very curious about what was inside the cave.

"There were no silver-armored ants in the nest, only the dead queen. At first, I thought it was still alive, so I was terrified and ran away. Later, I realized it was dead, so I went back and put its body and some food from the temple into a storage bag. That delayed me a little longer."

Zhong Wenyuan did not tell the truth about everything. He was always wary of Apu.

"The queen ant is dead?" Apu looked surprised for the first time.

"Yes, the body is here with me." Zhong Wenyuan picked up the storage bag, pointed at it, and injected spiritual power into it. The opening of the bag expanded visibly and soon grew to a size of one meter. He reached in, took out the queen ant's body from inside, and turned it over, allowing everyone to see the bloody wound on the abdomen.

"What's going on? Who killed it? Brother Apu, is there a more powerful monster in this mountain? Why don't you tell us?" Song Xian turned to look at Apu with a serious expression and a reproachful tone. He and others were risking their lives for this matter, but he actually concealed such a big thing.

Seeing the queen's wound, the first thing that naturally came to his mind was that there must be something stronger than the queen in the mountain. Otherwise, how could the queen die in the inner room? And with such a bloody wound, this was definitely not a natural death.

Apu was also a little confused. He squatted down and carefully examined the wound on the queen ant's abdomen, his brows furrowed. "I don't know what's going on. As far as I know, there are no other monsters in this nest except the silver-armored ants. There are some traps set up in the other paths inside the mountain, but no living creatures. This is impossible! The outer defense formation is intact. Even if there are monsters, they can't sneak in quietly."

"Brother Wenyuan, have you found any traces of other monsters, such as palm prints, footprints, etc."

Zhong Wenyuan said nothing, just shook his head.

Apu looked back at the cave and strode in.

"Master, let's go in together! I found a newly born silver-armored ant next to the queen's corpse. There are also some golden beans in the hall. I guess they are food for the silver-armored ants. I can't fit so much in my storage bag by myself. Let's take them all away. After we return to the sect, we can feed the silver-armored ants as spiritual beasts."

Song Xian glanced at him. He knew that Zhong Wenyuan was mature and prudent, and since he said this, there must be a reason.

In an instant, a light bulb went off in his mind, and he suddenly understood something. The queen ant's death might have other reasons, and it was definitely not caused by other monsters. Otherwise, with Zhong Wenyuan's cautiousness, he would never have suggested entering the cave at this time.

"Well, let's go together. If there are other monsters, one more person will provide more protection."

The three followed Apu into the dark cave.

Apu just looked back at a few people and said nothing.

The group quickly passed through the passages and arrived at the hall where the queen ant's body was.

A Pu surveyed his surroundings and walked directly to a candlestick in the lower left corner. With a slight twist, the walls of the hall moved away, revealing a passage. Seeing this, Song Xian followed behind, leaning in to take a look. A Pu suddenly turned back and said, "The task I entrusted to you has been completed. I will give you 10,000 spirit stones later."

The meaning of this is very clear, which is to let them stop here and not continue to follow. The treasure must be in the inner passage.

Song Xian nodded. Although he was also very curious about what treasures were hidden in there, the two parties had agreed that they were only responsible for leading the silver-armored ants away from the nest. Strictly speaking, if they followed them in now, it would be a violation of the original agreement. If they insisted on following them into the passage, it would be a matter of breaking off relations.

Apu strode in and quickly disappeared from their sight.

"Senior Brother Wenyuan, what exactly happened? How did the queen ant die?" Seeing him walking away, Song Xian asked immediately.

When George Lam saw him suddenly ask the question, he was a little confused as to why he asked this question, but then Zhong Wenyuan's voice came over.

"Master, your foresight is incredible. This queen ant was not killed by other monsters, but by its young."

"What does it mean to be harmed by antlings?"

Zhong Wenyuan flipped his hand, took out the stone box from the storage bag, opened it, and saw a fly-sized ant with a golden body gnawing on the stone box.

He had actually gnawed a small hole in the bottom of the stone box.

After the stone box was opened, the little ant jumped out from it. Zhong Wenyuan had suffered losses from it before, so he was prepared and caught it firmly with two fingers.

"You mean this little thing killed the queen ant?" Song Xian looked at the fly-sized golden and silver-armored ant in disbelief. He couldn't imagine how the queen ant could be killed by it.

"I don't know the exact circumstances, but when I discovered the queen's corpse, this little creature was still inside her belly, nibbling at her flesh and blood. It's possible the queen reached the end of her lifespan and died naturally. It's also possible the queen was too weak after giving birth to it, so it took advantage of the situation and burrowed into her stomach, emptying it of flesh and blood."

"Hiss." Song Xian couldn't help but take a breath after hearing this.

Although low-level monsters are not very intelligent, it is unheard of for a young monster to eat its mother. This is too cruel, and it makes people shudder just thinking about it. Just imagine how painful and desperate the queen ant must be when her newly hatched babies drill into her belly and eat her.

Lin Zixiang, standing by, was also shocked and swallowed unconsciously: "Why is the shell of this little ant golden? It's different from other silver-armored ants. Could it be that it is not a silver-armored ant, but another kind of ant monster?"

"This should be a different species of silver-armored ant. If it were any other ant monster, with its strength, it would be impossible to approach the queen ant and would be destroyed by the surrounding worker ants and guard ants. I was worried that showing this different species of silver-armored ant would cause trouble with Apu, so I didn't tell the truth just now. After all, this is their spirit beast. What if he saw it as a rare thing and coveted it and asked for it?"

"Brother Wenyuan, you're worrying too much. Although I haven't interacted with him much, I've seen him to be calm, generous, and open-minded. He's certainly not someone who would give up the greater good for the sake of small gains. Just now, the silver-armored ants returned to their nest. If he hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have been able to stop them."

"We can only judge a person by his appearance, not his heart. We should be more cautious." Zhong Wenyuan looked at the dark and deep passage behind the stone wall. "I have been in here before."

"Ah?" Song Xian suddenly turned around and looked at him, wondering, "What treasure is in there?"

"After passing through this passage, there is a three-way intersection. I didn't dare go any further. I thought the treasure must be hidden in one of the intersections. But since three intersections have been dug in such an important place, the other two must not only be used for deception, but are likely dead ends, with powerful mechanisms hidden inside."

Song Xian felt slightly relieved. If Zhong Wenyuan took the treasure inside, Apu would definitely turn against everyone, and there would even be a risk of a fight on the spot.

"Brother Wenyuan, we've already agreed to his terms. Why are you doing this? If the treasure is truly behind the passage, and you take it, wouldn't that be tantamount to being unkind and unjust?"

Song Xian's tone was obviously unhappy and his expression was displeased. As the headmaster, he had already set a goal, but Zhong Wenyuan pretended to obey and secretly disobeyed. He made a decision on his own without even discussing such an important matter with him. This was a very bad behavior.

He has always respected Zhong Wenyuan and has never criticized him in this way, but this incident made him a little annoyed. If this trend is not put out in time, who knows what will happen in the future.

Zhong Wenyuan quickly explained, "I was just curious, so I went to take a look. Mainly because I was worried that A Pu had other plans and was hiding something from us. If there really was a treasure in the passage, I wouldn't take it without permission."

"I hadn't planned this originally. I was acting according to plan. I didn't expect that not only did not a single silver-armored ant chase me out along the way, but even the queen ant in the hall was dead. This opportunity is rare."

"At that time, I couldn't go back and discuss it with the headmaster before taking action. After all, Apu was right next to me, so I decided to find out what was going on."

Song Xian sighed softly, his tone softening a bit. "Since this has already happened, let's just forget it. I hope this won't happen again. Let's go! Whatever treasures are inside has nothing to do with us."

(End of this chapter)